1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to adjustable barbell or dumbbell exercise devices, and more particularly, to a novel end-mounted weight plate assembly to use with such barbell or dumbbell exercise devices, including bullet-pocket cylindrical openings disposed in each of the weight plate assemblies, and bullet-pocket weight cylinders to slide into or out of an aligned cylindrical opening to add or remove weight cylinders for adjusting the weight amount of the associated weight plate assembly. The term “bullet-pocket” is a descriptive term codified by the applicant to refer to the cylindrical opening in the weight plate assembly that receives a “bullet-cylinder” weight cylinder including novel features, and to be inserted into or removed from an aligned and correspondingly diametrical and elongated cylindrical opening that is termed herein as “bullet-pocket cylindrical opening” into which to receive a “bullet-cylinder” or “bullet-pocket” weight cylinder. It is common practice in the pertinent art of such adjustable dumbbell exercise devices to provide a generally elongated cylindrical shaped bar member including a hand grip section along its central elongated dimension to manually lift the weight end-loaded dumbbell assembly. Further, the spaced-apart free-end portions of the bar member are provided to receive radial extending weight plates that are weight adjustable and that are to be secured onto the free-end portions of the bar member for permitting manual lift of the barbell exercise device without dislodging the weight plates during use. The prior art discloses a multiplicity of configurations of weight plates, and parallel mounting or stacking of axially received weight plates on the free-ends of the bar member, and multiple manners of adjusting or securing the parallel mounted weight plates, in addition to simply adding another fixed weight plate to the free-end of the dumbbell.
2. Background of the Invention
Dumbbell exercise devices are the pertinent art of the current invention. The prior art is replete with various configurations of dumbbell handle and elongated bar members to comprise rotatable exercise devices. Stackable and securable parallel side-by-side weight plate assemblies are disclosed in prior art patents, and the manners of stacking and/or securing the weight plates are the object of these inventions. This invention discloses a novel cylindrical shaped weight plate assembly that includes at least a pair of cylindrical pocket-like openings to extend axially through or substantially through the thickness dimension of a thickened radially extending weight plate, the cylindrical openings being radially offset or removed from the central axis of the weight plate assembly and aligned oppositely from each other across the central axis to provide a balanced set of openings, respectively. Each of the cylindrical openings preferably extend through the thickness dimension of the cylindrical weight plate assembly and disposed to extend in parallel offset position with respect to the central axis of the cylindrical weight plate assembly, and are equally offset from the central axis of the weight plate assembly. Each weight plate assembly further includes at least a singular bullet-cylinder shaped weight cylinder of corresponding or matching cylindrical dimension to the length and radius of an aligned singular cylindrical bullet-pocket opening in the weight plate, and the weight cylinder is designed and intended to be axially inserted into or removed from an aligned one of the pair of cylindrical bullet-pocket openings, in order to add or remove (adjust) weight amounts with respect to the weight plate assembly. The weight plate assembly is provided with a circumferential extending radial aperture encircling the central axis of the weight plate which selectively opens into each of the bullet-pocket cylindrical openings. First flexible locking means in the form of a flexible circular band member is positioned for its mounted position in the radial aperture and surrounds the axial dimension of the weight plate, and where the radial aperture has been selectively disposed to open into the bullet-pocket cylindrical openings, the flexible band member is permitted and mounted to angularly intersect and extending to cross an outer diametrical portion of the cylindrical openings for a purpose herein to be set forth.
It is a novel feature of this invention to provide that the bullet-pocket weight cylinder includes along its length dimension and disposed along the diametrical surface thereof, a relatively shallow grove or aperture that extends parallel to the end portions of the weight cylinder, and extends along the cylindrical surface of the weight cylinder only a distance that roughly matches or exceeds the extension of the intersecting section of the flexible band member into the cylindrical opening. The aperture in the diametrical surface of the weight cylinder comprises second locking means to cooperate with the first locking means in the form of the intersecting flexible band member disposed in the cylindrical openings to engage with the intersecting band member by receiving the intersecting section of the band member into its aperture defined by the shoulders of the aperture or groove made or cut into the outer cylindrical surface of the weight cylinder. The first locking means and second locking means cooperate or combine to provide cylinder locking means to lock or secure or hold and restrain against axial movement of the weight cylinder as mounted within the associated bullet-pocket cylindrical opening into which the weight cylinder is insertedly received. The aperture in the surface of the weight cylinder is generally shaped to appear as a radially extending cutout groove of the outer cylindrical surface so that the ends of the aperture re-emerge into the surrounding cylindrical surface to provide displacement cam means for displacing by cam action (rotating movement) the received intersecting section of the flexible band member as a result of rotational movement of the weight cylinder either clockwise or counter-clockwise rotation thereof. The intersecting section of the flexible band member is rotatingly moved out of the weight cylinder aperture to engage the outer cylindrical surface of the cylinder with the rotation of the weight cylinder and the weight cylinder is then free of the interfering engagement by the intersecting section of the flexible band member, to allow the cylinder to be removed from its associated bullet-pocket cylinder.
It is another novel feature of the current invention to provide along the inserted free-end portion of the weight cylinder, an edge groove (groove cut into the insertable cylindrical edge of the free-end portion of the weight cylinder) defining an angularly extending shoulder portion cut or formed in the diametrical surface of the free-end portion of the weight cylinder. In the same manner as the aperture in the weight cylinder has its opposite end portions to re-emerge into the surrounding surface of the cylindrical shape of the weight cylinder, the opposite end portions of the angularly extending shoulder portion also re-emerge into the surrounding adjacent surface of the cylindrical weight cylinder. In accordance with the novel feature of providing the shoulder portion, as the weight cylinder is being inserted into the aligned cylindrical opening in the weight plate, the shoulder portion is caused to come into contact with the aforementioned intersecting section of the flexible band member which has been disposed to lie in an angular crossing or intersection within the cylindrical opening at the point where the cylindrical opening and the circumferential radially extending aperture in the weight plate communicate or open into each other.
It is at once obvious from the position of the elements being described that the angularly intersecting band member disposed to lie across the cylindrical opening will interfere with the insertion of the weight cylinder. However, with the weight cylinder rotated to an aligned position wherein the edge grove (shoulder portion) of the weight cylinder will intersect, abut or engage the crossing or intersecting section of the retractable band member, whereby the intersecting section of the band member is disposed to lie parallel to and be engaged by the shoulder portion thereof with rotational movement of the weight cylinder, the rotation of the weight cylinder in either clockwise or counter-clockwise movement will displace by camming action the intersecting section of the flexible band member by pushing or forcing the crossing section back into its receiving radial aperture of the weight cylinder. Thus, the weight cylinder shall be freed from the interference of the flexible band member to move on past this point of interference along the length dimension of the cylindrical opening, whereby the weight cylinder may move axially into fully inserted position with respect to the associated cylindrical opening.
It is noted that this edge groove is useful during insertion of the weight cylinder and is immaterial during removal of the weight cylinder. It can be said that the action of rotation of the weight cylinder during insertion results in initially removing by cam action the interfering intersecting section of the flexible band member and permits further insertion of the weight cylinder into the aligned and selected cylindrical opening in the weight plate, and thereafter, results in achieving alignment of the radial aperture of the weight cylinder with the intersection section of the flexible band member which has been removed from the cylindrical opening by cam action and is under tension to re-enter the radial aperture of the weight cylinder when aligned therewith. Further, in order to achieve removal of the weight cylinder from its receiving cylindrical opening, in which it is restrained or secured or locked by joint action of the length-wise and rotational alignment between the radial aperture on the weight cylinder and the intersecting section of the flexible band member, the rotational movement either clockwise or counter-clockwise of the weight cylinder will result in the forced band section removal, by cam action caused by the configuration of the radial aperture, of the intersecting section of the flexible band member from the radial aperture of the weight cylinder, to disengage the weight cylinder, and permit free removal of the weight cylinder from the aligned and receiving associated one of the multiple cylindrical openings in the weight plate. The combination of the weight plate assembly provided with predetermined multiplicity of bullet-pocket cylindrical openings therein, combined with aligned and inserted associated bullet-pocket weight cylinders comprise a novel weight plate assembly, to provide an improved bullet-pocket dumbbell exercise apparatus in accordance with the novel features of the current invention.